8 January 2004 Edition

Going for a gong
CELTIC FC manager Martin O'Neill's acceptance of the dubious honour of being given the Order of the British Empire in Queenie's New Year Honours List (to go alongside his MBE from 1982) should be even more disappointing to one-time fans alongside the revelation in leaked documents that the spectacularly unsuccessful British tennis 'ace', Tim Henman, is ranked alongside the Celtic supremo to "add interest" to a dismal roll call. Free article

- BY PAT BURKE
"To end my lamentation, I'll make this declaration, None want for recreation until the days do dawn, For without hesitation, we're charged with combination, And sent for transportation from the hills of Mullaghbawn." - late 18th Century ballad, The Boys Of Mullaghbawn
From the Cromwellian Wars of the 17th Century, right through to the Easter Rising, transportation of Irish political opponents of British rule was a common form of punishment. Free article

The Tar Isteach Bogtrotters had their end-of-year walk across the Ben of Howth in Dublin, which proved to be a great way of clearing both head and lungs after the easy Christmas living.
Bogtrotters, friends and visitors assembled beside the DART station at Howth harbour, where local historian Joseph Finnegan gave us a brief rundown on the Howth Gunrunning prior to 1916. Free article

Over Christmas, thoughts turned often to the three Irishmen still being held in jail in Colombia. There was a Christmas card sitting on the mantelpiece at home from Martin McCauley's wife, Cristín, signed 'from Martin, Cristín and family'. Cristín is a woman of much strength and determination, but this was the third Christmas that Martin has spent in jail in Colombia, and even the very strongest get lonely. Free article

An Phoblacht Magazine

AN PHOBLACHT MAGAZINE:

The first edition of this new magazine will feature a 10 page special on the life and legacy of our leader Martin McGuinness to mark the first anniversary of his untimely passing.

It will include a personal reminiscence by Gerry Adams and contributions from the McGuinness family.

There will also be an exclusive interview with our new Uachtarán Mary Lou McDonald.

This week, Europe's leaders gathered in Dublin. Over the following months, with Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen fawning on them like a pair of anxious puppies, they will try to hammer out the constitutional treaty they came close to agreeing at Rome. When they have finished, the European Union will be a federal state in everything but name, and European democracy will lie in ruins. Free article

Tar Anall was first founded as a drop-in centre for republican ex-prisoners and their families in Belfast in 1995, but since then the organisation has continued to modify and expand its services. The new Youth Development Unit is just one part of what's on offer. Tar Anall also provides a wide variety of interlinked services, including family and individual counselling, practical assistance, a stress clinic, alternative therapies such as massage and reflexology, and training and education units. Free article